A musician is halfway through a public performance when they realise they might not make it to the end. Their body is fighting them, they’re in extreme pain. But stopping is not an option so they push on. No one would know.

But boy does the musician know it. When they come off stage, they are in agony. It feels like their career is at an end.

In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores the connection between the musician and their instrument and what happens when that precious relationship is severed by injury. He considers what happens when the thing we love to do most in the world begins to hurt us, and how being unable to do it can tear at the fabric of who we are. But in experiencing that loss, how we may find new ways of understanding ourselves?

With cellist Corinne Morris, Artina McCain (pianist and Associate Professor of Piano, University of Memphis), and clarinetist Professor Dr Luc Nijs (University of Luxembourg).

Featuring recordings of Artina McCain from her album Heritage: an American Musical Legacy, performing The Vale of Dreams, composed by Charles Griffes, and Troubled Water from Spiritual Suite, composed by Margaret Bonds.

And also featuring recordings of Corinne Morris from her album Chrysalis with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, performing Siciliène, composed by François Couperin, and the final movement from Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No, 1 In C Major.

Mstislav Rostropovich is the solo cellist for Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme.

Presenter: Matthew Syed